The vaccine to protect young children against the deadly malaria has shown promising potential. The vaccine is called RTS,S. It is being developed by GlaxoSmithKline company among other 20 trials.
With over 200 million malaria cases annually leading to more than half million deaths, malaria burden is definitely a global public health issue (Asante, Adjei, Enuameh, & Owusu-Agyei, 2016). Malaria vaccine is being considered a cost-effective way to ultimately eradicate malaria.
The development of malaria vaccine, RTS.S, is great news in the fight against the deadly disease among young children. Combined with available malaria interventions, RTS,S has the prospect to save millions of lives, particularly among children.
Currently, there is no available malaria vaccine. The complexity of malaria parasite has made vaccine development difficult. Challenges in identifying antigens that associate with protection and of funding have been compounding the process of vaccine development.
RTS,S is currently evaluated in clinical trials. The trials have received positive scientific opinion in young children aged 5-17 months. The scientific approval is a great public health success as the RTS,S has the prospect to reduce millions of malaria incidences.
If the jab works in real world settings, it would be made part of the routine vaccine schedule for young children. The rationale for the development of this vaccine to offer protection against malaria comes from observations in which acquired immunity to malaria protects persons dwelling in malaria endemic areas.
World Health Organization is running pilot to determine if malaria vaccine program would be rolled out. Success has been achieved in clinical trials and now the task is replicate the same in real world.
This injectable vaccine offers partial protection against malaria by triggering the body’s immune system to fight the malaria parasite. Protective immunity against malaria needs a coordinated interaction between the adaptive and innate immunity.
RTS,S is not only the first but also the only malaria vaccine to demonstrate the protective impact against malaria in phase III clinical trials. Final findings indicated that malaria vaccine helped protect infants and children from malaria for 3 years after initial vaccination.
The vaccine reduces clinical and severe cases of malaria by a third. However, without the fourth dose, the benefits reduce significantly. The vaccine is administered four times- once a month for three consecutive months and the fourth dose after 18 months.
However, No one would be fully protected against malaria because this is a leaky vaccine. Nevertheless, the vaccine could of great benefit given that malaria is the 8th highest contributing factor of global disease burden.
Even if the vaccine is imperfect or short lived, it would be the filter analogue of sprays and bed nets. While the current interventions have reduced malaria cases and deaths, the disease is still a threat.
While this malaria vaccine is a great achievement, there are some issues that need to be addressed. The level of jab coverage required to counter its imperfection and the likelihood that the vaccine leads to secondary infections.
This pre-erythrocytic vaccine targets the sporozoite before the parasite enters the bloodstream. Vaccination can lead to a decrease in the number of inoculations from infected mosquito bites that result in blood stage infection.
Reference
Asante, K.P., Adjei, G., Enuameh, Y, Owusu-Agyei, S. (2016). RTS,S malaria vaccine development: progress and considerations for post-approval introduction. Vaccine: Development and Therapy, 2016: 25-32.
Pre-Sex HIV Drug